


When He Faded Away

by ankeister



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galaxy Garrison, Grieving, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Oblivious, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Season/Series 01, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), angsty keith, beginning of everything, kangst, keith smoking because its hot, klance, lance is hurt and bb boi keith too, some spicy keith, who am i kidding keith is always hot, why is adding tags so addictive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24698266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ankeister/pseuds/ankeister
Summary: It takes place in the Galaxy Garrison, just before this endless adventure started. Keith prepares himself for that night and grieves Shiro, facing the fact that if that purple UFO doesn't appear with his brother inside he doesn't have anything else to live for. Lance prepares himself for hanging out with Hunk and Pidge, the ghost of purple eyes filling him up and confusing the ocean-eyed boy's innocent mind. They both don't know what's about to come, apart from this feeling of uneasiness in the air...
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 12





	When He Faded Away

A thin line of smoke from a cigarette was curving in the air, floating into the sky. Keith sighed, expulsing once more his smokey breath, the gaseous substance doing artistic movements in the air until it faded away again as if it never existed.

Today, the morning was calm. There were some birds chirping on the distance and the sun was appearing through the dusty horizon. The mountains were inked with orange and yellow colours, making the sunrise even more mesmerizing by accentuating the warm colours that made the desert such a unique landscape.

Keith let a hand run through his mullet hair, and then he let it rest in his neck. He closed his eyes and frowned, a groan sliding unconsciously from his lips while he threw away the rests of the cigarette, crushing it with his foot once it was in the ground.

He woke up of the chair he was sitting in, making it crack slightly behind him. It was an old chair, he thought, keeping the package of cigarettes in his right pocket, and took the black shirt which was resting in it.

He let the dark cloth slid along his muscled torso until it covered his chest. A warm sensation covered his body, and he took a deep breath. There was a lot of stuff to do. He better be moving.

He took a last glance to the piece of art in front of him before entering the shack.

“Shiro would’ve loved this” He thought, while he took his jacket from the home-made table and he wrapped it between his waist. He made the table when he arrived here, with a bunch of bricks and a big piece of wood. He’s done a lot of things with this old shack. Now it felt like home, even though deep inside, Keith knew he had to live with the burden of not belonging no any place, even when it felt like one.

Shiro was his best friend, more like a brother. He was a pilot at the Galaxy Garrison, an experienced school for pilots and future astronauts. He went on a mission to Kerberos (one of Pluto’s moons), but a month later Keith was told that his team and he disappeared mysteriously in the vast sea of space. Like a simple column of smoke, they were suddenly gone, as if they never existed. They said he was dead, that he was not coming back, but Keith never believed them. Or didn’t want to, at least. It was too much to bear, too much to carry in his already wounded soul. 

Days after that talk he had with Iverson, his teacher at that school, he was expulsed due to discipline issues. He may or may not have stabbed his teacher in the right eye with his knife. He’s had that knife his entire life, and he’d never thought he’d do such a horrible thing with it, but he did, and that was a point of no return. He stole a hoverbike and ran away from that place as far as possible. Everyone thought that he was a weirdo. They used to ignore him, let his presence be an unreachable goal instead of treating him like a normal human being. He’s always struggled in making friends, and even if he did try and approach someone, they would look at him with this puzzled face, as if it was wrong for him to interact with someone. Everyone treated him like a loner, so he became one. He wouldn’t miss anything about that school that now haunted him in his dreams.

Then, he found this old house, all abandoned and dead. He decided to stay here like a kind of secret base for him while he searched for his brother. He still had hope in his heart. He had discovered pretty fucked up stuff. Apparently, aliens exist, and tonight it´s going to be a crazy night. He also read in some old scripts on a cave near there that kept saying the word “Voltron” over and over. He’s read it from all different angles and forms possible, he’s searched for more information all over the internet, including the national government files (which they’re illegal to read, but he knew how to hack properly thanks to the Garrison) but he found nothing at all. That word was driving him nuts. He went to the cave every day and stayed in it all morning, trying to figure out all the scripts. It’s weird how he found this cave. Some strange energy was dragging him there. That energy felt… nostalgic. He doesn’t know how, or why, but it leaves a hole inside him.

He’s not going today, though. How I said before, today is different. Crazy shit is going to happen today. And he better be prepared. He has, of course, all the materials needed, and he also has memorized the plan perfectly. He doesn’t like to leave everything for the last day, especially with this serious stuff going on. If he’s patient, and if the scripts are right, he’ll see a purple star.  
To be honest, he’s resting his only hopes in this thing. Sounds pretty stupid, but it’s the truth. If that damn star doesn’t show up, he’s going to… He doesn’t know. His life revolves around this, around finding Shiro, around Voltron.

After he knew Shiro disappeared, there was this emptiness that ironically filled him up. He would see him in every corner, listen to him every day and feel his brotherly hugs, even though they were just a ghost, a looped illusion that played in his head like a broken record and wouldn’t let his aching heart alone. Shiro was the only one who really cared and acknowledged Keith’s presence, and soon Shiro became Keith’s first goal. But just like that, he flew away from him, like they all do. Like life does, eventually.

He shook his head and slapped himself.”Wake up” He sang, in case his body didn’t understand the pain. This is not the time to get pessimist. If that star didn´t appear he’ll cry, kill himself, or whatever, but now he has to keep fighting. For Shiro. He filled his fanny pack with all the things he needed: bombs, a match, a controller, binoculars, etc. He gestured packing his knife in his back, but he stopped midway. He looked at it again, seeing himself projected in the sharp edge of the object. His look went to the glowing purple mark he had in its handgrip. He knew that the knife wasn’t human. His father gave it to him, but he didn’t know where it came from. Maybe it’s better if he covered his knife, just to be sure that there’s nothing to worry about.

He grabbed some white tape and covered the entire handgrip with it. He let his callous fingers trace delicately the shape of the knife. He missed his father. This knife was the only memory left of him.  
He sighed deeply, ghosts of the past leaving his mind for the sake of Shiro. 

He stared once again at the window, seeing the sun shine hard against the horizon, illuminating all the corners and places around. The birds stopped chirping a while ago, and now the rest of the animals were wandering around like ghosts. He went out and sit in the steps near the parquet of the hall. He still had his knife in his hands. He used to fidget with it when he’s nervous. I guess that bad habits are difficult to forget. He finally kept his knife in his belt and put on his leather gloves.

He somehow felt… different. He didn’t know why, but he always trusts in his instincts. A determined look sat on his deep purple eyes.

“I’m going for you, Shiro. I promise.”

His presence left the abandoned shack, the last remains of ashes dying into the wooden floor and making their last efforts to shine, to burn into the sky until they were blown away by the wind.

***

Lance looped himself in the bed, undoing it. He didn’t care, though. He’ll redo it later. He just needed rest. Today his team: Hunk (his former best friend), Pidge (his other best friend but not as much as Hunk) and he failed a ridiculously easy fly simulator. Iverson quarrelled him in front of the entire class, and the worst part of all: He compared him to “the best pilot of his last class”.

His lips curved when he thought about him. Keith. Keith fucking Kogane. Why is he always compared to him? Lance thought that he’ll finally forget about him when that boy got expulsed, but apparently he was wrong. Boy, he was so wrong.

He remembered his permanent serene face, his dark mullet hair, and the contrast it made with his pale skin. He remembered his deep, purple eyes that always seemed to keep a little bit of bitterness just for him, long, dark eyelashes lingering over them. He remembered his perfectly straight nose, and his thick, reddish lips. He also remembered his husky deep voice and his mysterious aura that made him not to have friends at all.

Lance sighed, covering his now humid cheeks with his forearm.

Why did he feel like when Keith was gone something went away too? Why does it feel like he faded away as if he was just a mere dream? He shook his head violently. He is just an idiot. He hates Keith’s arrogant ass and thanks to him getting expulsed he’s not gonna see that garbage haircut ever again. Yeah.

Lance rolled over until his face hit the pillow, puffed air filling his nostrils, and he screamed.  
He let out a high pitched scream, air abandoning his lungs, heating the object. He hugged the pillow, and screamed again, this time with a cracked voice dying his throat.

Angry tears dripped into the pillow, drenching the piece of cloth that covered it. When he was done screaming, he shut his eyes, still hugging the pillow. Since he left he’s been… discouraged.

Keith was his inspiration. He wanted to be like Keith. He was his muse, his “idol”. Not that he ever deduced that in that little mind of his.

He put the pillow away, and he stared at the ceiling. He kinda missed his mom. She was a really good mom. They would talk about so many different things, and with her, he didn’t have to hide his sensitive part. It was his mom, after all. His home.

“If she were here...” Lance thought. “Maybe she’d tell me why am I so… weird.” He sighed deeply, letting the knot in his throat undo itself, and the burning air in his lungs abandon his body. He shifted his head to the side, observing his room.

It was dark because he turned the lights off, but he could still see the shadows of a chair, some clothes, boxes, books and pencils spread in his desk, and he could distinguish the body postures of the anime characters portrayed in posters, which were stick in the wall with some tape. He could also smell his perfume all over the place. He’s always liked perfumes. They would give the room… a soul? It also smelled like sweat, though. He’s not opened the window in days.

He rubbed his eyes and stood up, stretching as if he wanted to touch the sky. He should get dressed. He doesn’t want to worry Hunk, since he said they will meet at his Pidge’s at 7:30 PM, and he really doesn’t want to tell anyone about his weak ass. 

He unbuttoned the upper part of his uniform. Garrison really has a lack of coolness. The designer had no sense of fashion, no doubt about it. He opened his wardrobe, and he took a simple blue and grey t-shirt and blue jeans.

Before he put his outfit on, he observed his body. He was muscled, but not too much. He’s always had a lean complexion, but since he joined the Garrison, he’s developed some muscle, and he’s more than happy with that. Especially when every girl you hit on says yes to some making out in the bathroom. He likes girls, but he doesn’t know why every time he kisses a girl there’s this voice behind his head that tells him to stop and wait for the right one. He’s never listened to it, though.  
That soulmate crap is bullshit, right?

Inside that lover boy layer, and some more layers more, there´s a pretty sweet and insecure guy that only wants to nuzzle and cuddle someone, but only his family and Hunk know this. Hunk and he had been friends since the 1st year of Garrison, and it was pretty easy to open up for him. The boy didn’t have malice. That’s one of the many reasons why he and Lance fit so well together. Lance teaches him to risk his guts, and Hunk is Lance’s stability. Hunk has saved Lance uncountable times, from teachers, girls, etc. and Lance has given Hunk crazy and hilarious experiences he’ll never forget. Once they went to a party and they were implied in a fight because Lance pushed some bullies accidentally. They ran so fast that Hunk would vomit afterwards. They also played videogames and talked about a lot of things together. They practically know each other by memory. The best thing about Hunk is that he always will be with Lance, so he doesn’t have to look “cool” around him.

He checked himself on the mirror like he always does. He licked his thumb and passed it through his defined eyebrows for them not to look messy.  
He also ran a hand through his hair and messed it up a little. Y’know, not trying too hard. He pinched his cheeks for them to look slightly redder and he put balm in his lips.

He stares at his turquoise eyes. His mother always said that they are as beautiful as the brightest star in the firmament. Only his mom told him that, and his mother is really dramatic, so maybe they’re not soo beautiful. They are fine.

He side-smiled at the mirror and posed in his typical flirty pose, finger-guns pointing straight at him.

“Hey, babe. Lookin’ hot.” He teased. It was a method for his lack of self-esteem, and it also helped him to get in character.

Now he was ready. He clicked the switch off and closed his room, not before taking his usual green jacket with him.

He walked down the hall in a casual pose, hands in his pockets as he winked at the giggly girls and threw friendly cheers to the guys.

When he arrived at Hunk’s room he suddenly felt… different. Like… if something was going to happen. Something big. But he’s never listened to his instincts, so he doesn’t give a shit.

“Hunk, buddy!, I’m here.”

“Going!”

He left the room leaving his sadness tucked in his bedsheets for later. Or well, at least that's what he thought he would be doing that night. Instead, he faded away from Earth, but got to bloom in the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> WEll, well, well, this is my very first fanfiction ever and it doesn't have any kind of sense xddd. I just felt like writing and this came out of my mind, so I thought that since I love AO3 I might as well share it. I hope you liked my view of what happened just before Lance and Hunk went to Pidge's room, and since Keith is my husband I had to include him as well. I was just curious, like hmmm,,, what could they be doing? I added some klance because,,, why not lmao and I also added Keith smoking oof, amarite peopleee 7u7. Anyhow, thanks for reading this and if you like it please let me know because my ego needs food xd. Nah but I accept constructive criticism so yeah <3 love uuu


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